Albums:
In a lousy week for new rock releases, only Perry Farrell's Satellite Party's - Ultra Payload debuts at #91 and is the only new debut in the top 100 for the week.
Modern Rock:
Linkin Park - "What I've Done" is #1 again for the 9th week in a row. I think the record is 17 weeks, so keep an eye on that and just imagine how close the band could get to the record with a decent song.
Returning to the top 20 this week is Interpol with their new single "The Heinrich Maneuver" at #19.
Mainstream Rock:
Linkin Park is at #1 again this week.
Two bands return to the top 20 on Mainstream this week with Korn's new single "Evolution" at #17 and the unwelcome return of Puddle of Mudd at #18 with "Famous". Here's hoping that everyone enjoys poor lyrics and Cobain ripoffs as much as they did 4 years ago. See, ordinarily I would mock Korn, but A. I haven't heard the song yet and B. Fucking Puddle of Mudd is back. Let's see... Three Days Grace... check, Linkin Park... check, Puddle of Mudd... check, demons and eternal torment... check... let's just say I'm glad I have XM radio now.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
June 2007 Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees
New inductees for June 2007:
For more information, click here.
| The Velvet Underground |
| Bruce Springsteen |
| Tool |
| Aerosmith |
| Radiohead |
For more information, click here.
New Shit Tuesday
DVDs:
The Messengers: This is the highlight of the past two weeks for DVDs... a shitty horror movie that's been forgotten already even though it was only released a few months ago.
VERDICT: Skip it.
Norbit: A nasty, ugly, stupid, racist piece of crap that nearly made 100 dollars. What's wrong with you, America?
VERDICT: Avoid it.
CDs:
Chris Cornell - Carry On - The former lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave releases his second solo album. What I've heard of it has been good, but not great, but I still plan to purchase it.
VERDICT: Buy it.
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me - Manson's been pretty bad lately and I honestly believe that the first single off of this album "Heart Shaped Glasses" is the worst song he's ever produced. Still, it's worth a listen.
VERDICT: Borrow it.
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full - Starbucks' first album on it's new album is Paul's follow-up to the surprisingly solid Chaos And Creation... from a few years back.
VERDICT: Borrow it.
The Messengers: This is the highlight of the past two weeks for DVDs... a shitty horror movie that's been forgotten already even though it was only released a few months ago.
VERDICT: Skip it.
Norbit: A nasty, ugly, stupid, racist piece of crap that nearly made 100 dollars. What's wrong with you, America?
VERDICT: Avoid it.
CDs:
Chris Cornell - Carry On - The former lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave releases his second solo album. What I've heard of it has been good, but not great, but I still plan to purchase it.
VERDICT: Buy it.
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me - Manson's been pretty bad lately and I honestly believe that the first single off of this album "Heart Shaped Glasses" is the worst song he's ever produced. Still, it's worth a listen.
VERDICT: Borrow it.
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full - Starbucks' first album on it's new album is Paul's follow-up to the surprisingly solid Chaos And Creation... from a few years back.
VERDICT: Borrow it.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Battle Of The Bands - Round 1, Bracket B, Part 2
#17 The Pink Spiders 3 - #48 Depeche Mode 0 - What can I say, this group doesn't exactly fit into Depeche Mode's fanbase.
#18 Jet 3 - #47 H.I.M. 0 - There's really no reason why Jet should be ranked this low, but at least they won easily in the first round.
#19 Kings Of Leon 3 - #46 Blue October 0 - All things considered, Blue October may be one of the worst non-metal bands around these days and Kings Of Leon isn't the best, but they're up there.
#20 The Music 3 - #45 The Kooks 0 - Given time, The Kooks might become one of the best bands around, but they're definitely not at that point yet.
#21 Aimee Mann 3 - #44 Rilo Kiley 0 - Two fantastic but underrated bands square off and Aimee Mann emerges victorious.
#22 The Drive-By Truckers 3 - #43 NOFX 0 - On the downside, many bands are ranked below NOFX that shouldn't be, but on the bright side no one voted for NOFX, so it's pretty much equal.
#23 Chevelle 2 - #42 Travis 1 - The Tool-wannabes get the victory over the Brit-pop never-wases.
#41 The Eels 2 - #24 Tori Amos 1 - The first seeded upset of Bracket B sees Tori Amos getting knocked out by the under appreciated Eels.
#25 Stone Sour 2 - #40 Clutch 1 - My vote for Clutch wasn't enough for the throwback-metal band to overcome the Slipknot side project.
#26 The Arcade Fire 3 - #39 The Kaiser Chiefs 0 - Why the hell these two bands are each so lowly-ranked is beyond me, but Arcade Fire gets the win.
#38 Thursday 2 - #27 OutKast 1 - Why was OutKast ranked so low? Because Ryan hates them. Why did OutKast lose in the first round? Because Ryan hates them. Why does Ryan hate them? Beats me.
#28 Slipknot 2 - #37 Okkervil River 1 - The shine has come off of Slipknot's only good album, but not to that extent yet.
#36 Kid Rock 2 - #29 Meat Loaf 1 - Wait, Meat Loaf was a 29 seed? What the fuck? And someone voted for him? Why? He was only included in the tournament based on his most recent album, which none of the judges have heard. I just don't get it sometimes.
#35 Wilco 2 - #30 Porcupine Tree 1 - No, really, Porcupine Tree was the favorite. Stop laughing, it's true!
#34 My Morning Jacket 3 - #31 Slayer 0 - Slayer hasn't done anything notable in years, so it's only appropriate that they get knocked out right away, especially against a top-shelf indie band like MMJ.
#32 Sum 41 2 - #33 John Mayer 1 - The top-shelf pop-punk band knocks off the wannabe blues rocker. That's enough, John Mayer. More Than Enough.
#18 Jet 3 - #47 H.I.M. 0 - There's really no reason why Jet should be ranked this low, but at least they won easily in the first round.
#19 Kings Of Leon 3 - #46 Blue October 0 - All things considered, Blue October may be one of the worst non-metal bands around these days and Kings Of Leon isn't the best, but they're up there.
#20 The Music 3 - #45 The Kooks 0 - Given time, The Kooks might become one of the best bands around, but they're definitely not at that point yet.
#21 Aimee Mann 3 - #44 Rilo Kiley 0 - Two fantastic but underrated bands square off and Aimee Mann emerges victorious.
#22 The Drive-By Truckers 3 - #43 NOFX 0 - On the downside, many bands are ranked below NOFX that shouldn't be, but on the bright side no one voted for NOFX, so it's pretty much equal.
#23 Chevelle 2 - #42 Travis 1 - The Tool-wannabes get the victory over the Brit-pop never-wases.
#41 The Eels 2 - #24 Tori Amos 1 - The first seeded upset of Bracket B sees Tori Amos getting knocked out by the under appreciated Eels.
#25 Stone Sour 2 - #40 Clutch 1 - My vote for Clutch wasn't enough for the throwback-metal band to overcome the Slipknot side project.
#26 The Arcade Fire 3 - #39 The Kaiser Chiefs 0 - Why the hell these two bands are each so lowly-ranked is beyond me, but Arcade Fire gets the win.
#38 Thursday 2 - #27 OutKast 1 - Why was OutKast ranked so low? Because Ryan hates them. Why did OutKast lose in the first round? Because Ryan hates them. Why does Ryan hate them? Beats me.
#28 Slipknot 2 - #37 Okkervil River 1 - The shine has come off of Slipknot's only good album, but not to that extent yet.
#36 Kid Rock 2 - #29 Meat Loaf 1 - Wait, Meat Loaf was a 29 seed? What the fuck? And someone voted for him? Why? He was only included in the tournament based on his most recent album, which none of the judges have heard. I just don't get it sometimes.
#35 Wilco 2 - #30 Porcupine Tree 1 - No, really, Porcupine Tree was the favorite. Stop laughing, it's true!
#34 My Morning Jacket 3 - #31 Slayer 0 - Slayer hasn't done anything notable in years, so it's only appropriate that they get knocked out right away, especially against a top-shelf indie band like MMJ.
#32 Sum 41 2 - #33 John Mayer 1 - The top-shelf pop-punk band knocks off the wannabe blues rocker. That's enough, John Mayer. More Than Enough.
Battle Of The Bands 2007 - Round 1 - Bracket B - Part 1
#1 Queens Of The Stone Age 3 - #64 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists 0 - Ted Leo was too obscure to get an easier 1st Round match and they're no match for the returning champions.
#2 Radiohead 3 - #63 The 88 0 - Once again an unknown band gets unfairly thrown into the path of an unstoppable thresher.
#3 Sonic Youth 3 - #62 The Roots 0 - Rap artists never have much of a chance in these competitions, but Sonic Youth has been on too much of a roll to lose this early in the competition.
#4 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers 3 - #61 The Editors 0 - Here in bracket B it seems to be an epidemic of top-shelf indie artists that are overlooked by at least one of the judges in the seeding process. The Editors are the lastest victim. While they certainly wouldn't have won the competition, they still deserve better than this.
#5 Modest Mouse 3 - #60 Elefant 0 - Elefant is also unknown, but they aren't really that good, so this is appropriate.
#6 System Of A Down 3 - #59 The Counting Crows 0 - Yeah, the Counting Crows are still around. Did you know that? They haven't done anything notably since about 1998 or so, but they are still making new music. Obviously, that music isn't very good...
#7 Elvis Costello 3 - #58 The Faint 0 - Elvis Costello's made several great albums in a row and really wouldn't need more than 1 of them to overcome The Faint.
#8 A Perfect Circle 3 - #57 The Shout Out Louds 0 - Maynard's side project easily cruises by one of the more obscure bands in the competition.
#9 Paul McCartney 2 - #56 Fort Minor 1 - Were it not for Paul's most recent album he probably wouldn't have been in this competition and I definitely wouldn't have voted for him over Fort Minor, but it was probably his most mature and best work since leaving the Beatles.
#10 The Thermals 3 - #55 Jem 0 - The Thermals are one of the most surprising bands to be ranked as a favorite in this competition. They easily blow Jem away, that's for sure.
#11 Social Distortion 2 - #54 The New Pornographers 1 - I STRONGLY disagree with this result, as well as the extremely low rank for the Pornographers.
#12 Muse 3 - #53 Ryan Adams 0 - Muse is surprisingly low-ranked this year, but they easily blow out Ryan Adams.
#13 Mark Lanegan 2 - #52 Ludacris 1 - Lanegan gets the win and I cast the dissenting vote myself, as I think Ludacris is one of the best rappers out there and Lanegan's solo work never really hit the mark with me.
#14 Spoon 3 - #51 Jack's Mannequin 0 - I'm not the biggest Spoon fan, but Jack's Mannequin isn't really anything special.
#15 Bruce Springsteen 3 - #50 The Soundtrack Of Our Lives 0 - Springsteen's on one hell of a hot streak these days and Soundtrack doesn't even have a second album yet. No contest.
#16 The Old 97's 3 - #49 Michelle Branch 0 - Michelle Branch has suffered a lot of backlash over the past few years and the end result is a first round blow-out against an only slightly above-average band.
#2 Radiohead 3 - #63 The 88 0 - Once again an unknown band gets unfairly thrown into the path of an unstoppable thresher.
#3 Sonic Youth 3 - #62 The Roots 0 - Rap artists never have much of a chance in these competitions, but Sonic Youth has been on too much of a roll to lose this early in the competition.
#4 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers 3 - #61 The Editors 0 - Here in bracket B it seems to be an epidemic of top-shelf indie artists that are overlooked by at least one of the judges in the seeding process. The Editors are the lastest victim. While they certainly wouldn't have won the competition, they still deserve better than this.
#5 Modest Mouse 3 - #60 Elefant 0 - Elefant is also unknown, but they aren't really that good, so this is appropriate.
#6 System Of A Down 3 - #59 The Counting Crows 0 - Yeah, the Counting Crows are still around. Did you know that? They haven't done anything notably since about 1998 or so, but they are still making new music. Obviously, that music isn't very good...
#7 Elvis Costello 3 - #58 The Faint 0 - Elvis Costello's made several great albums in a row and really wouldn't need more than 1 of them to overcome The Faint.
#8 A Perfect Circle 3 - #57 The Shout Out Louds 0 - Maynard's side project easily cruises by one of the more obscure bands in the competition.
#9 Paul McCartney 2 - #56 Fort Minor 1 - Were it not for Paul's most recent album he probably wouldn't have been in this competition and I definitely wouldn't have voted for him over Fort Minor, but it was probably his most mature and best work since leaving the Beatles.
#10 The Thermals 3 - #55 Jem 0 - The Thermals are one of the most surprising bands to be ranked as a favorite in this competition. They easily blow Jem away, that's for sure.
#11 Social Distortion 2 - #54 The New Pornographers 1 - I STRONGLY disagree with this result, as well as the extremely low rank for the Pornographers.
#12 Muse 3 - #53 Ryan Adams 0 - Muse is surprisingly low-ranked this year, but they easily blow out Ryan Adams.
#13 Mark Lanegan 2 - #52 Ludacris 1 - Lanegan gets the win and I cast the dissenting vote myself, as I think Ludacris is one of the best rappers out there and Lanegan's solo work never really hit the mark with me.
#14 Spoon 3 - #51 Jack's Mannequin 0 - I'm not the biggest Spoon fan, but Jack's Mannequin isn't really anything special.
#15 Bruce Springsteen 3 - #50 The Soundtrack Of Our Lives 0 - Springsteen's on one hell of a hot streak these days and Soundtrack doesn't even have a second album yet. No contest.
#16 The Old 97's 3 - #49 Michelle Branch 0 - Michelle Branch has suffered a lot of backlash over the past few years and the end result is a first round blow-out against an only slightly above-average band.
Modern Rock Monday
Modern Rock Archive
Incubus - Anna Molly - A+
Incubus is back on the radio with this quantum leap forward from their last album. A fantastic hook, a clever chorus and well-written verses make this the type of song that could propel Incubus to the next level of rock stardom.
Nine Inch Nails - Survivalism - A+
Of the two brilliant singles released off of Year Zero, this one is more of a throwback to older NIN songs rather than their recent modern rock turn.
Nine Inch Nails - Capital G - A
The other single from Year Zero sounds as though it would have fit perfectly on With Teeth.
Fiction Plane - Two Sisters - A
An excellent debut single for Fiction Plane, which sort of reminds me of a sobered up Sublime. A great hooky beat is the highlight of the song.
Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober - A-
After an extended break, Evanescence is back with a vengeance. "Sober" is my second favorite song by the band and a fantastic improvement over the dull, gloomy and repetitive singles that were released following the sensational "Bring Me To Life".
Bloc Party - The Prayer - B
An above average song overall, but far below my expections for this particular artist.
A.F.I. - Love Like Winter - B
This song sounds a bit like a really nasally Interpol song. It's not really all that bad, but it's nothing special either.
Chris Cornell - She'll Never Be Your Man - B
I really hope Chris didn't break up Audioslave because THIS is the type of music he wants to make instead. It's alright, but that's about it.
New Years Day - I Was Right - B
An above average pop punk song that doesn't build on a strong opening.
30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill (Bury Me) - B-
Movie star Jared Leto channels his inner Maynard throughout Mars' latest album and does an admirable impression. They're not as good at ripping off Tool as Chevelle is, but their music is still surprisingly good.
Megadeth - A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) - B-
A boring song that's far below the average output for Megadeth, which is to say it's still better than anything Metallica's done in years.
Breaking Benjamin - The Diary Of Jane - C
A.K.A. "Breaking Benjamin Song #34466334 Version 2.3". Honestly, does every damn song need to sound exactly alike, guys? And if they do, couldn't they sound better?
Disturbed - Land Of Confusion - C
So you're a big bad heavy metal band and you want to prove how tough and cool you are by covering a 20 year old song by… Genesis? A mistake in and of itself, this cover choice is made even worse by the fact that Genesis' version is a better song and rocks harder as well. What the hell were you thinking?
Hinder - How Long - D+
If I have to read one more article about Hinder whining that people in the "blue states" don't listen to their music because they're snobs and the real music fans live in the areas where their music is popular, I might throw up. Hinder, I'll level with you. The reason you're not popular in the "blue states" isn't because the "blue states" and urban areas are full of snobs who like the White Stripes and don't appreciated "real" rock n roll, it's because you suck. You REALLY suck. You have no talent. The reason why you're popular in the "red states" is because your music is PLAYED ON AN INFINITE LOOP. Your music is the same old recycled crap that's leftover from the 80s hair metal bands and the trendy people you despise so much gave up on that crap 20 years ago. And now that you're ripping off Nickelback, I can only tell you that you will become more and more popular among the rubes and more and more irrelevant anywhere that good music makes it onto the airwaves.
Nickelback - Side Of A Bullet - D
A sludgy, ugly song throughout which lead singer Chad Kroeger SHOUTS his nasty lyrics about suicide and violence and, you know what, it doesn't matter.
Nickelback - Rockstar - D-
On the plus side, Nickelback is writing better hooks than ever before. Unfortunately, every new single they release gives me a new reason to completely fucking hate the band. This song is the typical "rock star whining about life as a rock star" song. Newsflash, Chad, if it's so bad being a rock star... QUIT. It's not like you have ever done anything to be worthy of the fame you've had handed to you, so just quit if you hate it so much and spare us all the trouble of putting up with your musical abominations in the future.
Incubus - Anna Molly - A+
Incubus is back on the radio with this quantum leap forward from their last album. A fantastic hook, a clever chorus and well-written verses make this the type of song that could propel Incubus to the next level of rock stardom.
Nine Inch Nails - Survivalism - A+
Of the two brilliant singles released off of Year Zero, this one is more of a throwback to older NIN songs rather than their recent modern rock turn.
Nine Inch Nails - Capital G - A
The other single from Year Zero sounds as though it would have fit perfectly on With Teeth.
Fiction Plane - Two Sisters - A
An excellent debut single for Fiction Plane, which sort of reminds me of a sobered up Sublime. A great hooky beat is the highlight of the song.
Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober - A-
After an extended break, Evanescence is back with a vengeance. "Sober" is my second favorite song by the band and a fantastic improvement over the dull, gloomy and repetitive singles that were released following the sensational "Bring Me To Life".
Bloc Party - The Prayer - B
An above average song overall, but far below my expections for this particular artist.
A.F.I. - Love Like Winter - B
This song sounds a bit like a really nasally Interpol song. It's not really all that bad, but it's nothing special either.
Chris Cornell - She'll Never Be Your Man - B
I really hope Chris didn't break up Audioslave because THIS is the type of music he wants to make instead. It's alright, but that's about it.
New Years Day - I Was Right - B
An above average pop punk song that doesn't build on a strong opening.
30 Seconds To Mars - The Kill (Bury Me) - B-
Movie star Jared Leto channels his inner Maynard throughout Mars' latest album and does an admirable impression. They're not as good at ripping off Tool as Chevelle is, but their music is still surprisingly good.
Megadeth - A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) - B-
A boring song that's far below the average output for Megadeth, which is to say it's still better than anything Metallica's done in years.
Breaking Benjamin - The Diary Of Jane - C
A.K.A. "Breaking Benjamin Song #34466334 Version 2.3". Honestly, does every damn song need to sound exactly alike, guys? And if they do, couldn't they sound better?
Disturbed - Land Of Confusion - C
So you're a big bad heavy metal band and you want to prove how tough and cool you are by covering a 20 year old song by… Genesis? A mistake in and of itself, this cover choice is made even worse by the fact that Genesis' version is a better song and rocks harder as well. What the hell were you thinking?
Hinder - How Long - D+
If I have to read one more article about Hinder whining that people in the "blue states" don't listen to their music because they're snobs and the real music fans live in the areas where their music is popular, I might throw up. Hinder, I'll level with you. The reason you're not popular in the "blue states" isn't because the "blue states" and urban areas are full of snobs who like the White Stripes and don't appreciated "real" rock n roll, it's because you suck. You REALLY suck. You have no talent. The reason why you're popular in the "red states" is because your music is PLAYED ON AN INFINITE LOOP. Your music is the same old recycled crap that's leftover from the 80s hair metal bands and the trendy people you despise so much gave up on that crap 20 years ago. And now that you're ripping off Nickelback, I can only tell you that you will become more and more popular among the rubes and more and more irrelevant anywhere that good music makes it onto the airwaves.
Nickelback - Side Of A Bullet - D
A sludgy, ugly song throughout which lead singer Chad Kroeger SHOUTS his nasty lyrics about suicide and violence and, you know what, it doesn't matter.
Nickelback - Rockstar - D-
On the plus side, Nickelback is writing better hooks than ever before. Unfortunately, every new single they release gives me a new reason to completely fucking hate the band. This song is the typical "rock star whining about life as a rock star" song. Newsflash, Chad, if it's so bad being a rock star... QUIT. It's not like you have ever done anything to be worthy of the fame you've had handed to you, so just quit if you hate it so much and spare us all the trouble of putting up with your musical abominations in the future.
New Movies
Knocked Up - Easily the highlight of the weekend, Knocked Up is director Judd Apatow's follow-up to The 40 Year Old Virgin, one of the funniest movies ever made. This movie stars Seth Rogen, who was in Virgin as well as Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, all Apatow projects. The reviews for this movie are off the charts and I can't wait to see it.
VERDICT - See it ASAP.
Mr. Brooks - Ok, so everyone hates Kevin Costner because he's made some bad movies, but does that mean that they'll avoid the good movies that he happens to make as well? So far, it seems that way. This movie stars Costner as a serial killer and William Hurt as the imaginary devil on his shoulder. The movie also stars Demi Moore and Dane Cook as people who are pretending that audiences actually want to see them in films. Still, the buzz about the movie is that it's actually pretty interesting.
VERDICT - See it.
Gracie - This movie is about a Nickelodeon star who strives to play soccer in high school but faces an uphill climb because she's a girl. It would be difficult for Hollywood to make a movie that interests me less. Maybe if she was trying to be a lacrosse champion or water polo or something.
VERDICT - Skip it, unless this is your demographic because apparantly the movie isn't bad.
VERDICT - See it ASAP.
Mr. Brooks - Ok, so everyone hates Kevin Costner because he's made some bad movies, but does that mean that they'll avoid the good movies that he happens to make as well? So far, it seems that way. This movie stars Costner as a serial killer and William Hurt as the imaginary devil on his shoulder. The movie also stars Demi Moore and Dane Cook as people who are pretending that audiences actually want to see them in films. Still, the buzz about the movie is that it's actually pretty interesting.
VERDICT - See it.
Gracie - This movie is about a Nickelodeon star who strives to play soccer in high school but faces an uphill climb because she's a girl. It would be difficult for Hollywood to make a movie that interests me less. Maybe if she was trying to be a lacrosse champion or water polo or something.
VERDICT - Skip it, unless this is your demographic because apparantly the movie isn't bad.
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